Democracy Now! February 11, 2002

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES A new study to be released today says that death sentences are more likely to be reversed in areas that use the death penalty, have higher African American populations, and where judges face political pressure. We go now to Professor James Liebman, the studys lead researcher. GUEST: JAMES LIEBMAN, Columbia Law School professor 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 AS DEATH-ROW PRISONER, THOMAS MILLER-EL, FACES EXECUTION NEXT WEEK, A SHORT DOCUMENTARY MAKES A STRONG CASE FOR A NEW TRIAL We now turn to the case of death-row prisoner, Thomas Miller-El, who is scheduled to be executed in Texas on February 21. His case has been appealed to the Supreme Court, which is expected to make its decision on Friday on whether or not to hear his case. If the Supreme Court decides to hear his case, he will be granted an automatic temporary stay of his execution. Miller-El was convicted of the 1985 murder of a white man, Douglas Walker, during a robbery of a Holiday Inn near Dallas. But many believe that Miller-El, who is African American, never received a fair hearing of his case. There is overwhelming evidence that at the time of his trial, Dallas county prosecutors were engaged in racist jury selection tactics in an effort to exclude African American jurors. We now turn to a documentary on the case of Thomas Miller-El. Its called A Pattern of Exclusion: The Trial of Thomas Miller El. It was produced and directed by Emily and Sarah Kunstler. VIDEO INFO: A Pattern of Exclusion: The Trial of Thomas Miller El LINKS: www.off-center.com 9:20-9:21 ONE MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:58 STORIES FROM THE BACK OF THE WORLD, A FILM ABOUT PRISONERS ON TEXASS DEATH ROW, CHILDREN WHO CHOP ROCKS IN PERU TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES, AND A KURDISH PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE LANGUISHING IN A TURKISH PRISON Thomas Miller-El was recently portrayed in a feature documentary called La Espalda del Mundo, the Back of the World, directed by Peruvian filmmaker Javier Corcuera. It is really more than a film since its release last year, it has grown into a movement that has spread through Spain, where it was produced, and on into Europe. This week, it has come here to the United States. The Back of the World portrays the lives of people who live in the worlds shadow a group of children who chop rocks in Peru to help their families, a Kurdish prisoner of conscience who languishes in a Turkish prison for speaking in her language, and the family members of people who are on death row in Texas. As a result of Thomas Miller-Els execution date, thousands of people who have seen the film have mobilized to try to stop it. The film has screened in union halls, high schools, community centers, and theaters all over Spain and Europe, where people have signed petitions and raised money for Miller-Els legal case. On Friday, two hundred people demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Madrid against the execution, and handed over a petition signed by more than five thousand people asking for the execution to be halted. GUEST: MARIA CARRION, producer of La Espalda del Mundo (The Back of the World) and former DN! producer. GUEST: JAVIER CORCUERA, documentary filmmaker and director of La Espalda del Mundo (The Back of the World) GUEST: JIM MARCUS, executive director of the Texas Defenders Service and lawyer for Thomas Miller-El LINKS: www.nyadp.org, www.laespaldadelmundo.com VIDEO INFO: Excerpts from The Back of the World 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS